A lubricating apparatus for an internal combustion engine includes an oil pump 12 comprising a feed pump 13 and scavenging pumps 14 and 15. Then oil pump 12 and an oil tank 16 are arranged at the outside of the internal combustion engine 9. A pump shaft for the pumps 13, 14 and 15 can be arranged in a same direction as that of a crank shaft of the engine 9. The feed pump 13 and two scavenging pumps 14 and 15 are arranged in serial order with the feed pump being farthest from the engine 9. A check valve 24 can be arranged in a passage of the discharge side of the feed pump 13. A relief valve 23 can be arranged between a passage of the discharge side of the feed pump 13 and a passage of the intake side of the scavenging pump 14.
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1. A lubricating apparatus for an internal combustion engine comprising a feed pump configured to feed lubricating oil from an oil tank to portions of the engine to be lubricated, and at least first and second scavenging pumps configured to return the lubricating oil accumulated in an oil reservoir of the engine to the oil tank, the oil reservoir being separated into at least first and second partitioned reservoirs, the first and second scavenging pumps configured to draw oil from the first and second partitioned reservoirs, respectively, the feed pump and the first and second scavenging pumps being formed by a plurality of rotors arranged on one pump shaft and being parallel with each other and forming an oil pump unit, wherein the oil tank and the oil pump unit are arranged on an outside of the internal combustion engine, and wherein the pump shaft is arranged in a same direction as that of a crank shaft of the engine.
2. A lubricating apparatus for an internal combustion engine according to
3. A lubricating apparatus for an internal combustion engine according to
4. A lubricating apparatus for an internal combustion engine according to
5. A lubricating apparatus for an internal combustion engine according to
6. A lubricating apparatus for an internal combustion engine according to
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The present application is based on and claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-401113, filed Dec. 1, 2003, the entire contents of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Inventions
The present inventions relate to a lubricating apparatus for an internal combustion engine comprising a feed pump and scavenging pumps.
2. Description of Background Art
In a wetsump type lubricating apparatus, lubricating oil accumulated in an oil pan arranged at a lower part of an internal combustion engine is directly fed to parts required to be lubricated in the engine. In some engines, a drysump type lubricating system is used in place of the wetsump type apparatus.
In a drysump type apparatus, an oil reservoir is provided in addition to an oil pan for collecting the lubricating oil from the oil pan. The lubricating oil accumulated in the oil reservoir is fed to an oil tank by scavenging pump(s). The lubricating oil can remain in the oil tank for a time. Then the lubricating oil is fed by a feed pump from the oil tank to parts of engine required to be lubricated.
In a vehicle such as an all terrain vehicle designed for traveling off-road or on a steeply sloped road, it is desirable that the vehicle has a sufficient ground clearance for off-road use, as well as a low center of gravity. Accordingly, an oil pan, such as that commonly used in wetsump systems, is undesirable because the large undulations on the bottom surface of such an oil pan interferes with ground clearance and/or requires the engine to be mounted higher, thereby raising the center of gravity. If a drysump type system is used, it remains difficult to configure the oil reservoir to operate properly even when the body of vehicle is inclined.
One example of a prior art lubricating apparatus for an internal combustion engine which can help to alleviate these problems is shown in
Oil reservoirs 57 and 58 are arranged at the bottom of the crank case 60 and are separated in a fore and aft direction by a partition wall 59. The main scavenging pump 52 and the sub-scavenging pump 53 separately draw oil from the oil reservoirs 57 and 58, respectively. The oil reservoir 57 is arranged substantially at a middle of the bottom of the crank case 60 which is a position where most of the oil tends to collect when the vehicle body is in a horizontal position. On the other hand, the oil reservoir 58 is arranged at a position shifted rearwardly relative to the reservoir 57 and extends in the right and left directions so that the oil can easily move even when the vehicle body is inclined toward the fore and aft directions or the right and left directions.
As shown in
This structure allows the main scavenging pump 52 and the sub-scavenging pump 53 to reliably draw the oil from the reservoirs 57, 58. Additionally, this arrangement provides more freedom in the design of the bottom portion of the crank case 60 and thus it is easier to lower the center of gravity of vehicle while keeping a sufficient ground clearance relative to the crank case 60 (see e.g. Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 73731/2001).
Recently, however, it has become more desirable to further lower the center of gravity in vehicles such as all-terrain vehicles and water-vehicles, while maintaining sufficient ground clearance relative to the crank case. In the lubricating apparatus of the prior art noted above in which three pumps 51, 52 and 53 are arranged within the crank case 60 of engine, the capacity of the oil reservoir and the oil tank is reduced due to the pumps and partition walls. This problem is more severe in multi-cylinder engines, in that it is more difficult to draw oil from each of the oil reservoirs 57 and 58 in a stable manner while the position of vehicle changes, due to additional limitations in layout in the multi-cylinder engine.
It is, therefore, an object of the present inventions to provide a lubricating apparatus for an internal combustion engine which can solve the problems of the prior art and stably carry out lubrication wherein oil is more consistently drawn from each of the oil reservoirs during movement of the vehicle, the oil passages are simplified, while oil agitation and oil temperature is suppressed.
Thus, in accordance with one embodiment, a lubricating apparatus for an internal combustion engine comprises a feed pump configured to feed lubricating oil from an oil tank to portions of the engine to be lubricated, and at least first and second scavenging pumps configured to return the lubricating oil accumulated in an oil reservoir of the engine to the oil tank. The oil reservoir is separated into at least first and second partitioned reservoirs. The first and second scavenging pumps are configured to draw oil from the first and second partitioned reservoirs, respectively. The feed pump and the first and second scavenging pumps are formed by a plurality of rotors arranged on one pump shaft and are parallel with each other and forming an oil pump unit. The oil tank and the oil pump unit are arranged on an outside of the internal combustion engine. The pump shaft is arranged in a same direction as that of a crank shaft of the engine.
Additional advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
One preferred embodiment of a lubricating apparatus for an internal combustion engine of the present invention is described below with reference to drawings showing an example thereof applied to a water vehicle. The embodiments disclosed herein are described in the context of a water vehicle because these embodiments have particular utility in this context. However, the embodiments and inventions herein can also be applied to other marine vessels, such as small jet boats, stern drive inboard/outboard boats, as well as other land vehicles including off-road vehicles such as all-terrain vehicles, motorcycles, dune-buggies, snowmobiles, or any vehicle in which it is desirable to have a larger ground clearance and/or a lower center of gravity.
Initially, a general structure of the water-vehicle shown is described below with reference to
A saddle-type seat 7 is detachably mounted on the upper central portion of the deck 4 and a steering handle 8 is also mounted on the front side of the seat 7. An internal combustion engine 9 is arranged under the seat 7. A fuel tank 10 is also arranged below the hatch cover 6. A propelling unit 11 is arranged on a rear side of the engine 9. The propelling unit 11 can generate the propelling force by drawing water via a spinning impeller and by jetting the water from jetting nozzles 11a rearwardly. The impeller is connected to an output shaft (not shown) of the engine 9 by one or a plurality of shafts. An oil pump 12, described below, is arranged proximate to a lower portion of the engine 9 and on a rear side thereof.
Other positions for the oil pump 12 can also be used. For example, the oil pump 12 can be disposed on a front side of the engine 9, and other positions. In the illustrated embodiment, the pump 12 is part of a drysump-type lubricating system for the engine 9.
With reference to
After being circulated through the engine 9 for lubrication, the oil drops into oil reservoirs 19 and 20 arranged at the bottom of a crank case (not shown) and is collected therein. The oil collected in these oil reservoirs 19 and 20 can be drawn in by the scavenging pumps 14 and 15 through strainers 21 and 22 and then discharged to an oil tank 16 arranged at the outside of the engine 9. The oil tank 16 can include a self-contained an oil cooler (not shown).
A relief valve 23 is arranged between a passage 39 of the discharge side of the feed pump 13 and a passage 43 of the intake side of the first scavenging pump 14. The relief valve 23 is configured to relieve pressure in the passage 39 of the discharge side of the feed pump 13 when the pressure exceeds a predetermined pressure. The surplus oil is fed to the oil tank 16, together with the discharged oil from the first scavenging pump 14. A check valve 24 is arranged in the passage 39 of the discharge side of the feed pump 13 to prevent back flow of oil from engine 9 when the engine 9 is stopped.
The power input and the structure of the oil pump 12 is described with reference to
In this embodiment, the rotation of the crank shaft 25 is transmitted, via a gear mechanism 27, to an idle shaft 28 arranged in parallel with the crank shaft 25. The rotation of the idle shaft is further transmitted to a pump shaft 30 via a dog mechanism 29. The rotation of the crank shaft 25 is also transmitted to an output shaft 31 via the gear mechanism 27 and drives the impeller shaft(s) (not shown) described above.
The oil pump 12 is arranged at the outside of the crank case 26. The feed pump 13 and the scavenging pumps 14 and 15 are driven together by the pump shaft 30.
As shown in
By arranging partition walls 37 and separating walls 38 formed by plates of aluminum alloy into a housing 36 of aluminum alloy die casting, it is possible to simplify the structure of the housing 36 of the oil pump 12 and to use a single housing 36 to house these various types of oil pumps and thus to reduce the manufacturing cost.
With continued reference to
A relief chamber 40 communicates with the passage 39 of the discharge side of the feed pump 13. The relief valve 23 is configured to be slidable in a direction generally parallel to the pump shaft 30. The relief valve 23 has a valve element 41 that can be cup-shaped and which can slide to open and close the relief chamber 40. The valve element 41 is biased toward a closed position by a spring 42, to thereby close the relief chamber 40. When the pressure in the passage 39 of the discharge side of the feed pump 13 exceeds a predetermined threshold, it overcomes the force of the spring 42 and displaces the valve element 41 toward the left (as viewed in
With reference to
When a pressure in the passage 39 of the discharge side of the feed pump 13 exceeds a predetermined relief pressure, the relief valve 23 opens to relieve the surplus oil which is then returned to the oil tank 16 together with the discharged oil from the first scavenging pump 14.
Flows of the lubricating oil in an oil pump of the prior art are shown in
Since the oil pump 12 of the present invention is arranged at the outside of the engine 9, the pump 12 does not occupy space within the engine 9. Rather, this arrangement provides more design freedom with regard to the (volume) and layout of the oil reservoirs as compared with the oil pump 50 of the prior art in which three pumps 51, 52 and 53 are arranged within the crank case of the engine. As can be seen from comparison of
The present inventions have been described with reference to the preferred embodiments. Obviously, modifications and alternations will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description. It is intended that the present inventions be construed as including all such alternations and modifications insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.
Miura, Jun, Miyata, Shigeaki, Sugamuna, Noboru, Wada, Hiroko
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Executed on | Assignor | Assignee | Conveyance | Frame | Reel | Doc |
Dec 01 2004 | Ihara Mfg. Co. Ltd. | (assignment on the face of the patent) | / | |||
Dec 01 2004 | Yamaha Marine Kabushiki Kaisha | (assignment on the face of the patent) | / | |||
Jan 19 2005 | MIYATA, SHIGEAKI | Yamaha Marine Kabushiki Kaisha | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 016242 | /0314 | |
Jan 20 2005 | SUGANUMA, NOBORU | Yamaha Marine Kabushiki Kaisha | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 016242 | /0314 | |
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Mar 16 2018 | IHARA MANUFACTURING CO LTD | Yamaha Hatsudoki Kabushiki Kaisha | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 045255 | /0449 |
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